Thermal interconnect systems methods of production and uses thereof

ABSTRACT

Layered interface materials described herein include at least one pulse-plated thermally conductive material, such as an interconnect material, and at least one heat spreader component coupled to the at least one pulse-plated thermally conductive material. A plated layered interface material having a migration component is also described herein and includes at least one pulse-plated thermally conductive material; and at least one heat spreader component, wherein the migration component of the plated layered interface material is reduced by at least 51% as compared to the migration component of a reference layered interface material. Another layered interface material described herein includes: a) a thermal conductor; b) a protective layer; c) a layer of material accept solder and prevent the formation of oxides; and d) a layer of solder material. Methods of forming layered interface materials are described herein that include: a) providing a pulse-plated thermally conductive interface material; b) providing a heat spreader component; and c) physically coupling the thermally conductive interface material and the heat spreader component. At least one additional layer, including a substrate layer, a surface, adhesive, a compliant fibrous component or any other suitable layer or a thermal interface material, can be coupled to the layered interface material.

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/448,722 filed on Feb. 19, 2003, which is commonly-owned andincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is thermal interconnect systems in electroniccomponents, semiconductor components and other related layered materialsapplications.

BACKGROUND

Electronic components are used in ever increasing numbers of consumerand commercial electronic products. Examples of some of these consumerand commercial products are televisions, personal computers, Internetservers, cell phones, pagers, palm-type organizers, portable radios, carstereos, or remote controls. As the demand for these consumer andcommercial electronics increases, there is also a demand for those sameproducts to become smaller, more functional, and more portable forconsumers and businesses.

As a result of the size decrease in these products, the components thatcomprise the products must also become smaller and better manufacturedand designed. Examples of some of those components that need to bereduced in size or scaled down are printed circuit or wiring boards,resistors, wiring, keyboards, touch pads, and chip packaging. Manyproducts and components also need to be prepackaged, such that theproduct and/or component can more readily be adapted to perform severalrelated or unrelated functions and tasks. Examples of some of these“total solution” components and products comprise layered materials,mother boards, cellular and wireless phones and telecommunicationsdevices and other components and products, such as those found in USpatent and PCT Application Serial Nos.: 60/396,294 filed Jul. 15, 2002,60/294,433 filed May 30, 2001 and PCT/US02/17331 filed May 30, 2002,which are all commonly owned and incorporated herein in their entirety.

Components, therefore, are being broken down and investigated todetermine if there are better building materials and methods that willallow them to be scaled down and/or combined to accommodate the demandsfor smaller electronic components. In layered components, two goalsappear to be a) decreasing the number of the layers and/or b) decreasingthe thickness of the layers while at the same time increasing thefunctionality and durability of the remaining layers in both cases. Thistask can be difficult, however, given that the number of layers cannotreadily be reduced or made thinner without sacrificing functionality.

Also, as electronic devices become smaller and operate at higher speeds,energy emitted in the form of heat increases dramatically. A popularpractice in the industry is to use thermal grease, or grease-likematerials, alone or on a carrier in such devices to transfer the excessheat dissipated across physical interfaces. The most common types ofthermal interface materials are thermal greases, phase change materials,and elastomer tapes. Thermal greases or phase change materials havelower thermal resistance than elastomer tape because of the ability tobe spread in very thin layers and provide intimate contact betweenadjacent surfaces. Typical thermal impedance values range between0.2-1.6° C. cm²/W. However, a serious drawback of thermal grease is thatthermal performance deteriorates significantly after thermal cycling,such as from 65° C. to 150° C., or after power cycling when used in VLSIchips. It has also been found that the performance of these materialsdeteriorates when large deviations from surface planarity causes gaps toform between the mating surfaces in the electronic devices, or whenlarge gaps between mating surfaces are present for other reasons, suchas manufacturing tolerances, etc. When the heat transferability of thesematerials breaks down, the performance of the electronic device in whichthey are used is adversely affected.

Thus, there is a continuing need to: a) design and produce thermalinterconnects and thermal interface materials, layered materials,components and products that meet customer specifications whileminimizing the size of the device and number of layers; b) produce moreefficient and better designed materials, products and/or components withrespect to the compatibility requirements of the material, component orfinished product; c) develop reliable methods of producing desiredthermal interconnect materials, thermal interface materials and layeredmaterials and components/products comprising contemplated thermalinterface and layered materials; and d) effectively reduce the number ofproduction steps necessary for a package assembly, which in turn resultsin a lower cost of ownership over other conventional layered materialsand processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Layered interface materials described herein include at least onepulse-plated thermally conductive material, such as an interconnectmaterial, and at least one heat spreader component coupled to the atleast one pulse-plated thermally conductive material.

A plated layered interface material having a migration component is alsodescribed herein and includes at least one pulse-plated thermallyconductive material; and at least one heat spreader component, whereinthe migration component of the plated layered interface material isreduced by at least 51% as compared to the migration component of areference layered interface material.

Another layered interface material described herein includes: a) athermal conductor; b) a protective layer; c) a layer of material toaccept solder and prevent the formation of oxides; and d) a layer ofsolder material.

Methods of forming layered interface materials are described herein thatinclude: a) providing a pulse-plated thermally conductive interfacematerial; b) providing a heat spreader component; and c) physicallycoupling the thermally conductive interface material and the heatspreader component. At least one additional layer, including a substratelayer, a surface, an adhesive, a compliant fibrous component or anyother suitable layer or a thermal interface material, can be coupled tothe layered interface material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A suitable interface material or component should conform to the matingsurfaces (“wets” the surface), possess a low bulk thermal resistance andpossess a low contact resistance. Bulk thermal resistance can beexpressed as a function of the material's or component's thickness,thermal conductivity and area. Contact resistance is a measure of howwell a material or component is able to make contact with a matingsurface, layer or substrate. The thermal resistance of an interfacematerial or component can be shown as follows:Θinterface=t/kA+2Θ_(contact)  Equation 1

where

-   -   Θ is the thermal resistance,    -   t is the material thickness,    -   k is the thermal conductivity of the material    -   A is the area of the interface

The term “t/kA” represents the thermal resistance of the bulk materialand “2Θ_(contact)” represents the thermal contact resistance at the twosurfaces. A suitable interface material or component should have a lowbulk resistance and a low contact resistance, i.e. at the matingsurface.

Many electronic and semiconductor applications require that theinterface material or component accommodate deviations from surfaceflatness resulting from manufacturing and/or warpage of componentsbecause of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatches.

A material with a low value for k, such as thermal grease, performs wellif the interface is thin, i.e. the “t” value is low. If the interfacethickness increases by as little as 0.002 inches, the thermalperformance can drop dramatically. Also, for such applications,differences in CTE between the mating components causes the gap toexpand and contract with each temperature or power cycle. This variationof the interface thickness can cause pumping of fluid interfacematerials (such as grease) away from the interface.

Interfaces with a larger area are more prone to deviations from surfaceplanarity as manufactured. To optimize thermal performance, theinterface material should be able to conform to non-planar surfaces andthereby lower contact resistance. As used herein, the term “interface”means a couple or bond that forms the common boundary between two partsof matter or space, such as between two molecules, two backbones, abackbone and a network, two networks, etc. An interface may comprise aphysical attachment of two parts of matter or components or a physicalattraction between two parts of matter or components, including bondforces such as covalent and ionic bonding, and non-bond forces such asVan der Waals, electrostatic, coulombic, hydrogen bonding and/ormagnetic attraction. Contemplated interfaces include those interfacesthat are formed with bond forces, such as covalent bonds; however, itshould be understood that any suitable adhesive attraction or attachmentbetween the two parts of matter or components is preferred.

Optimal interface materials and interconnect materials and/or componentspossess a high thermal conductivity and a high mechanical compliance,e.g. will yield elastically when force is applied. High thermalconductivity reduces the first term of Equation 1 while high mechanicalcompliance reduces the second term. The layered interface materials andthe individual components of the layered interface materials describedherein accomplish these goals. When properly produced, the heat spreadercomponent described herein will span the distance between the matingsurfaces of the thermal interface material and the heat spreadercomponent, thereby allowing a continuous high conductivity path from onesurface to the other surface.

Thermal interface materials and thermal interconnect materials andlayers, as described herein, may comprise PCM™45, which is a highconductivity phase change material manufactured by HoneywellInternational Inc., and/or metal and metal-based materials alsomanufactured by Honeywell International Inc., such as Ni, Cu, Al andAlSiC, which are classified as heat spreaders, i.e., materials that workto dissipate heat. Thermal interconnect materials and layers may alsocomprise metals, metal alloys and suitable composite materials that meetthe following design goals: a) can be laid down in a thin or ultra thinlayer or pattern; b) can conduct thermal energy better than conventionalthermal adhesives; c) has a relatively high deposition rate; d) can bedeposited on a surface or other layer without having pores develop inthe deposited layer; e) can control migration of the underlying layer ofmaterial; and f) can be laid down as a coating in order to keep thesurface free of oxides and ready to accept solder. These thermalinterface materials, thermal interconnect materials, components andproducts comprising these materials may advantageously bepre-attached/pre-assembled thermal solutions and/or IC (interconnect)packages.

Layered interface materials described herein comprise at least onepulse-plated thermally conductive material, such as an interconnectmaterial, and at least one heat spreader component coupled to the atleast one pulse-plated thermally conductive material. The at least onepulse-plated thermally conductive material can be utilized as: a) adiffusion or migration barrier that protects the additional layer orcomponent, such as a die, from migration of components beneath thepulse-plated material and/or layer; b) a coating to keep the surfacefree of oxides and ready to accept solder, such as in the case of gold;and/or c) a coating of solder itself, as in the case of tin, indium,silver, lead and related alloys and combinations thereof.

A plated layered interface material having a migration component is alsodescribed herein and comprises at least one pulse-plated thermallyconductive material; and at least one heat spreader component, whereinthe migration component of the plated layered interface material isreduced by at least 51% as compared to the migration component of areference layered interface material.

Another layered interface material described herein includes: a) athermal conductor; b) a protective layer; c) a layer of material toaccept solder and prevent the formation of oxides; and d) a layer ofsolder material.

A method of forming contemplated layered interface materials comprises:a) providing a pulse-plated thermally conductive interface material; b)providing a heat spreader component; and c) physically coupling thethermally conductive interface material and the heat spreader component.At least one additional layer, including a substrate layer, a surface,an adhesive, a compliant fibrous component or any other suitable layeror a thermal interface material, can be coupled to the layered interfacematerial.

A conventional layered material for electronic and semiconductorapplications comprising at least two layers may be used herein as astarting point for the production of the layered interface materialsdescribed herein. These conventional layered materials generallycomprise a heat spreader component coupled to an additional electroniccomponent through a thermal grease or conventional adhesive material.This conventional layered material is herein referred to as the“reference layered material” or “reference layered interface material”.The layered materials described herein are similar to the referencelayered materials, except that the thermal grease or conventionaladhesive material is either replaced or separated from the heat spreadercomponent and/or additional component by a pulse-plated thermallyconductive non-porous material. These layered materials are hereinreferred to as the “plated layered materials” or “plated layeredinterface materials”. As used herein, the term “reference” means acontrol, a standard and/or a generally excepted conventional product ormaterial. For example, a reference material would be the “control” withwhich the plated material or plated layered material is compared. Thereference is a sample of identical constitution and prepared under thesame conditions for which all experimental, processing, manufacturing,chemical and/or physical variations are omitted. In chemical terms, the“reference” is analogous to a “blank”, in that all of the properties ofthe variation or sample material are measured and calculated against thereference as if the properties of the reference equaled, in effect,zero. Therefore, when comparing relative properties of a referencematerial and a plated material, it is important that both the referencematerial and the plated material begin with the same base componentsbefore variations are incorporated into the plated material, platedlayered material or the methods of production thereof.

In some contemplated embodiments, the pulse-plated thermally conductivematerial (migration blocking material) is responsible for a significantdecrease in migratory atoms and/or molecules (herein referred to as a“migration component”) when compared to the migration component of thereference layered material. A significant decrease in migratory atomsand/or molecules is understood to mean at least about a 51% decrease inmigratory atoms and/or molecules when compared to the reference layeredmaterial. In other contemplated embodiments, the migration blockingmaterials are responsible for at least about a 60% decrease in migratoryatoms and/or molecules when compared to the reference layered material.In yet other contemplated embodiments, the migration blocking materialsare responsible for at least about a 75% decrease in migratory atomsand/or molecules when compared to the reference layered material. Inpreferred embodiments, the migration blocking materials are responsiblefor at least about a 90% decrease in migratory atoms and/or moleculeswhen compared to the reference layered material. In even more preferredembodiments, the migration blocking materials are responsible for atleast about a 95% decrease in migratory atoms and/or molecules whencompared to the reference layered material.

It should also be appreciated that the migration blocking material orcomponent can be designed to block the diffusion and/or migration ofgases, liquids, metals and additional unwanted materials from diffusinginto the underlying layer or material. The gases, liquids, metals andother/additional unwanted materials may be deposited by any processgenerally used in electronic materials development and processing,including CVD/ALD (atomic layer deposition) depositions, liquid cleansand etches of dielectric materials, gaseous thermal processing and gasetching.

As mentioned, thermal interconnect and/or interface materials, thermallyconductive interconnect systems and layers may also comprise metals,metal alloys and suitable composite materials that meet at least one ofthe following design goals: a) can be laid down in a thin or ultra thinlayer or pattern; b) can conduct thermal energy better than conventionalthermal adhesives; c) has a relatively high deposition rate; d) can bedeposited on a surface or other layer without having pores develop inthe deposited layer; e) can control migration of the underlying layer ofmaterial; and f) can be laid down as a coating in order to keep thesurface free of oxides and ready to accept solder.

Thermal interconnect and/or interface materials and layers that aresuitable for use in the subject matter described herein should first beable to be laid down in a thin or ultra thin continuous layer orpattern. The pattern may be produced by the use of a mask or the patternmay be produced by a device capable of laying down a desired pattern.Contemplated patterns include any arrangement of points or dots, whetherisolated or combined to form lines, filled-in spaces and so forth. Thus,contemplated patterns include straight and curved lines, intersectionsof lines, lines with widened or narrowed areas, ribbons, overlappinglines. Contemplated thin layers and ultra thin layers may range fromless than about 1 μm down to about one Angstrom or even down to the sizeof a single atomic layer of material. Specifically, some contemplatedthin layers are less than about 1 μm thick. In other embodiments,contemplated thin layers are less than about 500 nm thick. In someembodiments, contemplated ultra thin layers are less than about 100 nmthick. In yet other embodiments, contemplated ultra thin layers are lessthan about 10 μm thick.

These layers are generally laid down by any method capable of producinga uniform layer with a minimum of pores or voids and can further laydown the layer with a relatively high deposition rate. Many suitablemethods and apparatus are available to lay down layers or ultra thinlayers of this type, however, one of the best apparatus and methods ofachieving a high quality layer of material is pulsed plating. Pulsedplating (which is intermittent plating as opposed to direct currentplating) can lay down layers that are free or virtually free of poresand/or voids. It has been discovered that the lack of pores helps tocontrol migration of the constituents of the other layers past theplated layer. For example, when a gold layer is pulse plated onto anickel-based heat spreader, the relatively nonporous gold layereffectively controls migration of nickel atoms a cross the gold layerand into adjacent layers. On the contrary, direct current plating, whichis suitable for many applications, including decorative jewelry,connections and other applications where thicker (greater than about 1μm), cannot provide the essentially pore free layers that are requiredfor the applications described herein.

Another method of laying down thin layers or ultra thin layers is thepulse periodic reverse method or “PPR”. The pulse periodic reversemethod goes one step beyond the pulse plating method by actually“reversing” or depleting the film at the cathode surface. A typicalcycle for pulse periodic reverse might be 10 ms at 5 amps cathodicfollowed by 0.5 ms at 10 amps anodic followed by a 2 ms off time. Thereare several advantages of PPR. First, by “stripping” or deplating asmall amount of film during each cycle, PPR forces new nucleation sitesfor each successive cycle resulting in further reductions in porosity.Second, cycles can be tailored to provide very uniform films byselectively stripping the thick film areas during the “deplating” oranodic portion of the cycle. PPR does not work well for some metaldeposition, such as gold deposition, because gold plating is normallydone in systems with no free cyanide. Hence gold will plate from acyanide complex (chelate) during the plate cycle but cannot “strip”during the deplate cycle as there is no cyanide to allow the gold tore-dissolve. Pulse plating and pulse periodic reverse systems can bepurchased from any suitable source, such as a company like Dynatronix™or built (in whole or in part) on site.

As used herein, the term “metal” means those elements that are in thed-block and f-block of the Periodic Chart of the Elements, along withthose elements that have metal-like properties, such as silicon andgermanium. The term “metal” includes the group of metals commonlyreferred to as transition metals. As used herein, the phrase “d-block”means those elements that have electrons filling the 3d, 4d, 5d, and 6dorbitals surrounding the nucleus of the element. As used herein, thephrase “f-block” means those elements that have electrons filling the 4fand 5f orbitals surrounding the nucleus of the element, including thelanthanides and the actinides. Preferred metals include indium, lead,gold, silver, copper, tin, bismuth, gallium and alloys thereof, silvercoated copper, and silver coated aluminum. The term “metal” alsoincludes alloys, metal/metal composites, metal ceramic composites, metalpolymer composites, as well as other metal composites.

As mentioned earlier, one of the contemplated embodiments comprisesforming a coating of solder itself using a pulse-plated method and/orapparatus. As an example, a contemplated layered material mightcomprise: a) a thermal conductor, such as copper; b) a protective layer,such as nickel, to protect the thermal conductor; c) a layer of materialto accept the solder and prevent the formation of oxides, such as nickeloxide; and d) a layer of solder to attach to the electronic component,such as a die. The layer of material to accept the solder and the layerof solder can be combined by plating the solder directly on theelectronic component and/or heat spreader after suitable preparationsteps to remove any nickel oxide layers. In addition, the layer ofmaterial to accept the solder can be electroplated and the solder layercan be silkscreened, attached as a preform, etc. All of the layerspreviously mentioned would benefit from pulse-plating or pulse periodicreverse plating, as this approach serves to tighten the grain structureand eliminate porosity without any real disadvantages.

Once the thermal interconnect layer is deposited it is understood thatit will have a relatively high thermal conductivity as compared toconventional thermal adhesives and other thermal layers. Additionallayers, such as a metallized silicon die can be soldered directly to thethermal interconnect layer without the use of such damaging materials ascorrosive fluxes that may be needed to remove oxides of the materials,such as nickel, used to produce the thermal spreader.

Heat spreader components or heat spreading components (heat spreader andheat spreading are used herein interchangeably and have the same commonmeaning) generally comprise a metal or metal-based base material, suchas nickel, aluminum, copper, or AlSiC. Any suitable metal or metal-basedbase material can be used herein as a heat spreader, as long as themetal or metal-based base material can dissipate some or all of the heatgenerated by the electronic component.

Heat spreader components can be laid down in any suitable thickness,depending on the needs of the electronic component, the vendor and aslong as the heat spreader component is able to sufficiently perform thetask of dissipating some or all of the heat generated from thesurrounding electronic component. Contemplated thicknesses comprisethicknesses in the range of about 0.25 mm to about 6 mm. Especiallypreferred thicknesses of heat spreader components are within the rangeof about 1 mm to about 5 mm.

The layered interface material and/or interconnect material may then beapplied to a substrate, another surface, or another layered material.Substrates contemplated herein may comprise any desirable substantiallysolid material. Particularly desirable substrate layers would comprisefilms, glass, ceramic, plastic, metal or coated metal, or compositematerial. In preferred embodiments, the substrate comprises a silicon orgermanium arsenide die or wafer surface, a packaging surface such asfound in a copper, silver, nickel or gold plated leadframe, a coppersurface such as found in a circuit board or package interconnect trace,a via-wall or stiffener interface (“copper” includes considerations ofbare copper and it's oxides), a polymer-based packaging or boardinterface such as found in a polyimide-based flex package, lead or othermetal alloy solder ball surface, glass and polymers such as polyimide.The “substrate” may even be defined as another polymer material whenconsidering cohesive interfaces. In more preferred embodiments, thesubstrate comprises a material common in the packaging and circuit boardindustries such as silicon, copper, glass, and another polymer.

Additional layers of material may be coupled to the layered interfacematerials in order to continue building a layered component. It iscontemplated that the additional layers will comprise materials similarto those already described herein, including metals, metal alloys,composite materials, polymers, monomers, organic compounds, inorganiccompounds, organometallic compounds, resins, adhesives and opticalwave-guide materials.

A layer of laminating material or cladding material can be coupled tothe layered interface materials depending on the specifications requiredby the component. Laminates are generally considered fiber-reinforcedresin dielectric materials. Cladding materials are a subset of laminatesthat are produced when metals and other materials, such as copper, areincorporated into the laminates. (Harper, Charles A., ElectronicPackaging and Interconnection Handbook, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill (NewYork), 1997.)

Spin-on layers and materials may also be added to the layered interfacematerials or subsequent layers. Spin-on stacked films are taught byMichael E. Thomas, “Spin-On Stacked Films for Low k_(eff) Dielectrics”,Solid State Technology (July 2001), incorporated herein in its entiretyby reference.

Applications of the contemplated thermal solutions, IC Packages, thermalinterface components, layered interface materials and heat spreadercomponents described herein comprise incorporating the materials and/orcomponents into another layered material, an electronic component or afinished electronic product. Electronic components, as contemplatedherein, are generally thought to comprise any layered component that canbe utilized in an electronic-based product. Contemplated electroniccomponents comprise circuit boards, chip packaging, separator sheets,dielectric components of circuit boards, printed-wiring boards, andother components of circuit boards, such as capacitors, inductors, andresistors.

Electronic-based products can be “finished” in the sense that they areready to be used in industry or by other consumers. Examples of finishedconsumer products are a television, a computer, a cell phone, a pager, apalm-type organizer, a portable radio, a car stereo, and a remotecontrol. Also contemplated are “intermediate” products such as circuitboards, chip packaging, and keyboards that are potentially utilized infinished products.

Electronic products may also comprise a prototype component, at anystage of development from conceptual model to final scale-up/mock-up. Aprototype may or may not contain all of the actual components intendedin a finished product, and a prototype may have some components that areconstructed out of composite material in order to negate their initialeffects on other components while being initially tested.

EXAMPLES

Heat spreaders were produced and plated with a gold spot using availablemasking technologies. Initial samples produced using DC current and adeposition rate of 0.25 microns/10 seconds left a red deposit. This redcolor can be an indication of porosity, as it suggests a deposition rateexceeding the electrolytes ability to replenish gold at the worksurface. Dropping the deposition rate to 0.25 microns/20 seconds helpedto return gold to a more pleasing lemon yellow color. However, thisdeposition rate was unacceptable for contemplated uses.

A pulse plating system with a pulse cycle of 1.0 millisecond on and 9.0milliseconds off (10% duty) was produced. Using this cycle, it waspossible to deposit 0.25 microns of lemon yellow gold in about 8seconds.

Using a more aggressive pulse cycle of 0.1 millisecond on and 3.0milliseconds off (3.3% duty), cycle times of 5 seconds were achieved,while maintaining a lemon yellow color.

Another contemplated pulse cycle was tested wherein the pulse platingduty cycle was 0.3 milliseconds on and 0.3 milliseconds off with 2.1amps average current for about 15 seconds. This cycle is adequate todeposit 0.14 microns of gold evenly across 32 work pieces.

Thus, specific embodiments and applications of thermal solutions, ICpackaging, thermal interconnect and interface materials have beendisclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the artthat many more modifications besides those already described arepossible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. Theinventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except inthe spirit of the disclosure. Moreover, in interpreting the disclosure,all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible mannerconsistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and“comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components,or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referencedelements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combinedwith other elements, components, or steps that are not expresslyreferenced.

1. A layered interface material, comprising at least one pulse-platedthermally conductive material; and at least one heat spreader component.2. The layered material of claim 1, wherein the thermally conductivematerial comprises a metal-based material.
 3. The layered material ofclaim 2, wherein the metal-based material comprises a transition metal.4. The layered material of claim 3, wherein the transition metalcomprises gold.
 5. The layered material of claim 1, wherein thethermally conductive material is essentially non-porous.
 6. The layeredmaterial of claim 1, wherein the heat spreader component comprises ametal-based base material.
 7. The layered material of claim 6, whereinthe metal-based base material comprises nickel, aluminum, copper or acombination thereof.
 8. The layered material of claim 1, wherein theheat spreader component comprises silicon, carbon or a combinationthereof.
 9. The layered material of claim 1, wherein the layeredmaterial comprises at least one additional layer of material.
 10. Thelayered material of claim 1, wherein the thermally conductive layer isless than about 1 μm thick.
 11. The layered material of claim 10,wherein the thermally conductive layer is less than about 500 nm thick.12. The layered material of claim 11, wherein the thermally conductivelayer is less than about 100 nm thick.
 13. The layered material of claim12, wherein the thermally conductive layer is less than about 10 nm. 14.The layered material of claim 1, wherein the thermally conductive layeris laid down in a pattern.
 15. The layered material of claim 1, whereinthe thermally conductive layer is formed by a pulse plating apparatus.16. The layered material of claim 1, wherein the thermally conductivelayer is formed by a pulse periodic reverse method.
 17. The layeredmaterial of one of claims 1 or 9, further comprising a substrate.
 18. Aplated layered interface material having a migration component,comprising: at least one pulse-plated thermally conductive material; andat least one heat spreader component, wherein the migration component ofthe plated layered interface material is reduced by at least 51% ascompared to the migration component of a reference layered interfacematerial.
 19. The layered material of claim 18, wherein the migrationcomponent of the plated layered interface material is reduced by atleast 60%.
 20. The layered material of claim 19, wherein the migrationcomponent of the plated layered interface material is reduced by atleast 75%.
 21. The layered material of claim 20, wherein the migrationcomponent of the plated layered interface material is reduced by atleast 90%.
 22. The layered material of claim 21, wherein the migrationcomponent of the plated layered interface material is reduced by atleast 95%.
 23. The layered material of claim 18, wherein the thermallyconductive material comprises a metal-based material.
 24. The layeredmaterial of claim 23, wherein the metal-based material comprises atransition metal.
 25. The layered material of claim 24, wherein thetransition metal comprises gold.
 26. The layered material of claim 18,wherein the thermally conductive material is essentially non-porous. 27.The layered material of claim 18, wherein the heat spreader componentcomprises a metal-based base material.
 28. The layered material of claim27, wherein the metal-based base material comprises nickel, aluminum,copper or a combination thereof.
 29. The layered material of claim 18,wherein the heat spreader component comprises silicon, carbon or acombination thereof.
 30. The layered material of claim 18, wherein thelayered material comprises at least one additional layer of material.31. The layered material of claim 18, wherein the thermally conductivelayer is less than about 1 μm thick.
 32. The layered material of claim31, wherein the thermally conductive layer is less than about 500 nmthick.
 33. The layered material of claim 32, wherein the thermallyconductive layer is less than about 100 nm thick.
 34. The layeredmaterial of claim 33, wherein the thermally conductive layer is lessthan about 10 nm.
 35. The layered material of claim 18, wherein thethermally conductive layer is laid down in a pattern.
 36. The layeredmaterial of claim 18, wherein the thermally conductive layer is formedby a pulse plating apparatus.
 37. The layered material of claim 18,wherein the thermally conductive layer is formed by a pulse periodicreverse method.
 38. The layered material of one of claims 18 or 26,further comprising a substrate.
 39. A method of forming a layeredinterface material, comprising: providing a pulse-plated thermallyconductive interface material; providing a heat spreader component;physically coupling the thermally conductive interface material and theheat spreader component.
 40. The method of claim 39, further comprisingcoupling an additional layer to the layered interface material.
 41. Alayered interface material, comprising: a thermal conductor; aprotective layer; a layer of material to accept solder and prevent theformation of oxides; and a layer of solder material.
 42. The layeredmaterial of claim 41, wherein the thermal conductor comprises copper.43. The layered material of claim 41, wherein the protective layercomprises nickel.
 44. The layered material of claim 41, furthercomprising an electronic component.
 45. The layered material of claim44, wherein the electronic component comprises a die.